Dog Fouling

[LMH]

I've just been reading through the Dogs (Fouling of Land) Act 1996 CHAPTER 20 (as you do) and exceptions to the offence of not picking up after your dog are:

The person in charge of the dog has a reasonable excuse for not clearing up (being unaware of the fouling or not having the means to clean up is not an excuse)

The owner or occupier of the land has consented to the faeces being left

The person puts the faeces in a bin on the land

The person in charge of the dog has a registered visual impairment

The Dogs (Fouling of Land) Act 1996, allows authorities to designate any land in their area as poop scoop areas without any requirement to provide signs or dog waste bins.

The land must be publicly accessible and open to the air, however the following areas are not included:

Carriageways with a speed limit of more than 40 mph

Land used for agriculture or woodlands

Land which is predominantly marshland, moor or heath

Rural common land

The Litter (Animal Droppings) Order 1991 of the Environmental Protection Act (1990) places a duty on local authorities to keep the following areas clear of dog faeces;

Any public walk or pleasure ground

Any land laid out as a garden or used for the purpose of recreation

Any part of the seashore which is frequently used by large numbers of people, and managed by the person having direct control of it as a tourist resort or recreational facility

Any esplanade or promenade

Any land not forming part of the highway or, in Scotland, a public road, which is open to the air, which the public are permitted to use on foot only, and which provides access to retail premises

A trunk road picnic area

A picnic site.

I note people in charge of a dog who have a registered visual impairment are exempt. However, I have noticed over the past months, many people in mobility scooters who have a dog and allow it to foul land where the Act is in force. The people I have seen have made no attempt to pick up after their dogs.

I appreciate, it may be difficult, if not impossible for these people to pick up after their dog, but according to the Act, they are liable to prosecution, or would they be exempt from this due to them having a reasonable excuse?

What are people's opinions on this?

Lisa

 

[Chris_374413356]

I'm surprised your last posting had no interest in the subject as he obviously uses it as brains.

Parksy, just get the techies to block his IP address from the system, as the meercats say 'simple'

 

[Mikey1]

You can only block his IP address if he has a static one.Without a static IP address everytime you log on through your ISP it will change.

 

[Chris_374413356]

Good thinking Mikey, if that's the case then we'll trace his address and send the boys round.

 

[Parksy]

Good thinking Mikey, if that's the case then we'll trace his address and send the boys round.

I can't say much about the situation at the moment.

Certain measures to deal with the disruption by this individual are being taken and have been for some time.

It's out of the moderators hands now....

 

[602]

Hi,

I understand that doggie-do gets special treatment, as it can contain parasites that cause children to go blind. (I've been told that is not strictly true, but the result is the same).

I have to clear up after my dog, if he does anything on the canal tow-path. I do not have to clear up after my dog if he drops anything in my garden.

We no longer have young children, but if we did, where is the most likely place for them, and their friends, to play? In my garden, or in the gutter?

602

 

[VIP640]

602,

I wish other people followed your example, I continually have to dodge the stuff when walking the canal tow path near where I live....

 

[602]

Hi Nick,

The worst I have met is when somebody's dog has done it in middle of the tow path, and they covered it with a big leaf. This has the same effect, probably worse, as stepping onto a banana skin. The secondary effects are very much worse.

I don't mind picking it up, simply stick you hand into a TESCO bag, grab the offending article, and turn the bag inside out. Twist the bag round your fingers, and its almost hermetically sealed.

I will admit that there are times, if nobody is looking, that I will kick the item into the bushes, but I won't leave it where somebody will step on it.

There is evidence that many people pick it up in a bag, then throw the bag up into branches of nearest tree.

And I've been told by one bloke thyat he ties the bag to his dogs collar, lets Fido carry it home.

602

 

[emmerson2]

602, like you,I find the little bags hanging in the bushes almost as offensive as leaving it on the path. But, there are available bio-degradable poo bags, which we use, which can be left in the undergrowth where its not likely to be stood in.This is possibly a better method of disposal than the doggy bins.

We have a lovely walk in our valley, very popular with dog walkers, but there are no doggy bins in its whole 15 mile length, cos the council say that providing them, and emptying them is not cost-effective.........

 

[Thorpedo]

I can hardly beleive what I've just read.

'Kick it into the bushes', 'put it in Bio degradable bags and dump it in the undergrowth' !!!!.

Whaaaat ?

You should both be ashamed of yourselves.

Perhaps these comments were just for a laugh but I can't see the punch line.

 

[LMH]

Don't forget, there are areas where the Act doesn't apply:

The land must be publicly accessible and open to the air, however the following areas are not included:

Carriageways with a speed limit of more than 40 mph

Land used for agriculture or woodlands

Land which is predominantly marshland, moor or heath

Rural common land

Lisa

 

[602]

Hi,

I took my dog for his morning pre-amble, and he performed....and I took it home. We then drove 120 miles to the Taunton Canal.

On arrival, I opened up the boat, grabbed a water container and the dog, and walked 100 yards to the tap. While I'm filling the container, dog has another "pit-stop" ..... just as a minor floating gin-palace drifts up to moor.

"I hope you are going to take that with you" shouts the bloke in the yachting cap.

This was a rare occasion when I didn't have a pocket full of TESCO bags.

"I'll *** back to my boat, and get a bag".

He wasn't having any of that, so we had a few heated but formally polite words, some with four letters. Eventually, he suggested that I asked his wife for a bag, which I did. As she handed it to me, I commented that I was paying

 

[Dustydog]

The Litter (Animal Droppings) Order 1991 of the Environmental Protection Act (1990) places a duty on local authorities to keep the following areas clear of dog faeces;

We have three poo bins along the Thames path which get emptied most days. Well Wiltshire Council! Most of us who use the area pick up just in case we step in it later. LOL.

There are those who do not pick up and amazingly after a while you can tell which dog it is. All the poos are diferent you see!

I guess policing these Acts will beanother burden on us Council Tax Payers. Whoops politics??

Cheers

Dustydog

 

[emmerson2]

Thorpedo, what's wrong with my actions? The stuff is a natural product, and if left to its own devices will rot down. It only becomes a problem to humans when left in public places, where it can be stepped in, or children can come in contact with it.

It is natuarlly bio-degradable, and by putting it in a bio bag, and throwing it into the undergrowth, neither of the above calamities are likely to happen, and, in the course of time, both bag and content will rot down.What's the problem? The same applies to kicking it into the bushes. If its out of the normal pathway, again, what's the problem?

That's it from me for a week. I'm off to look after my daughter's farm while she and her family take a break. I'll be very careful not step in any s**t!

 

[Ianofwilts]

emmerson

for 1 it stinks. for 2 you brought it with you so take it home and stick in your garden plants cos as you say it'll rot down.

The biggest concern for me is all the people doing the right thing by picking it up but totally the wrong thing by oicking it up in a supermarket carrier that biodegrades in about 25 years just to save a few pence on bags. Time bombs for the next generation I wouldn't wonder.

 

[Lord Braykewynde]

As an owner of three dogs, albeit small ones so only a little goes in so only a little comes out, people may have noticed in the past I'm very anti dog dumps. It is bad enough giving dog haters more ammunition without acting irresponsibly to society by leaving it for whoever to tread in.

Once we went to Bladon Chains CC site and on arrival took our dogs on the dog walk because after the journey they were busting. When we arrived back at the caravan both myself and Lady Braykewynde had trodden in the stuff with it stuck to our shoes.

Anyway I digress, I have a confession to make which has been bugging me for over 12 months.

After taking the dogs into the woods (can't rember where now)for a walk we came back to the car and after putting the dogs in the back we drove off. I then asked Her Ladyship what she'd done with the poo in the bags. OMG she said, I put the bags on the ground by the boot while we loaded the dogs. Now about 12 miles down the road I had no intention of going back so somewhere we had left it in the carpark and I've felt terrible since :O( This is the only time we've left any dumps no matter where we were.

There, that's a load off my mind.

 

[602]

Hi,

Take it home with you? Spend a week on a canal boat, you will generate a lot of bean tins, fish and chip papers, and doggy-bags. What do you do with them all if you can't find a suitable receptacle?

OK, its my problem ....... but the local council encourage tourists, and they are charging me for the priviledge of being there. Yes, I take it home, but I have the sort of car (Land Rover) which is capable of carrying half a ton of loose horse exhaust without losing any value.

Degradable bags? I'd thought about that, but my idea involved some way of killing the worms before the bag degraded.

I store some of my garage junk in TESCO bags, and find they degrade in a lot less than 25 years. My councils advice is to pick up my doggie-do in a plastic bag, take it home, double wrap it in a second bag, and dispose into dustbin. Two bags? But those bags would go into the dustbin empty if I didn't have a dog. Actually, thats wrong, we never throw a bag away empty....unless it has degraded while in my pocket. I've heard that my council will provide doggie bags, FOC, but I've never seen one.

I'm told that car tyres take hundreds of years to degrade.

602

 

[Lord Braykewynde]

I had a boat on the Mon & Brec canal before getting a caravan. British Waterways give you a key to certain facilities along the route like showers, toilets and rubbish recepticles. We had three dogs on the boat, only one now survives, and even along the towpath in the middle of nowhere we picked it up.

At one village, Gilwern, we used to stop off to buy fish and chips but we never ever moored there for the night or any length of stay. The towpath and verges was full of dog dumps from the villagers. I wouldn't even let our dogs out there for the fear of treading in it, we preferred to upsticks and go further up the canal to eat our chips and de-water the dogs.

When the dogs did dump it was put in doggy bags and those put into a carrier bag which hung up on the back of the boat. It was then disposed of at the next BW facilities.

Despite the caravan and getting to more different places I still miss the boat.

 

[coopsbridgecottage.plus.com]

I was very interested in reading the Dog Fouling Land Act, I have noticed recently that notices saying "Please clear up after you dog" are being out numbered by "No Dog Fouling" signs. In both public & private areas.

I feel that anywhere dogs are permitted we should be able to walk them with confidence, knowing that if they toilet we have the necessary bag to clean up, this is not always the case, my dog toileted before he got to the road gate at Morvich , I cleaned up but was rudely chastised by the warden. This is just one example of "No Dog Fouling" signs; they mean they don't really want dogs in the area all.

The noose is tightening around our necks, there are a lot of bodies that would like to fine us even if we do clear up.

Just another point, some people, unless they can see a bin seem to be at a lost what to do with it when they have picked it up, there is a gadget called "A Poo Pod", it's a container with a deodoriser, complete with bags

 

[602]

Hi,

My boat was moored at Lower Maunsel, on the Taunton Canal. At that time, there was a tap, and a WC nearby, but we were not allowed to empty our Elsan into it. Waste bins were at Bathpool, assuming you had a BW key, and the YMCA at Bridgwater....behind locked gates. My boat was immobilised by a fuel problem. I eventually found a doggy bin ..... walk down to next lock, then walk along the road. No signs pointing at it.

Before we moved on to moorings at Bathpool, they opened posh new facilities at Maunsel. Elsan disposal, toilets with key, toilets without key for general public, and shower. No doggie bin. I can't remember if there was a dustbin. The BW moorings at Bathpool didn't have a doggie bin, and I can't remember a dustbin, (nor Elsan disposal point, either). Did have WC and shower. BW charged

 

[Chrisbee]

Where do you get the bio degradable dog poo bags? I pick up after my dog using normal purpose sold bags from my local pet shop but have always thought it would be greener to leave it where it is to degrade naturally rather than store it in landfill for 25 years!

 

[cazone]

Hi, thought I'd add my comments to this debate, we were at Dovedale in the summer, a beautiful place, which is owned by the National Trust.

Their idea for you to get rid of your dogs fouling is to stick it and flick it. This involves finding a stick or twig in the undergrowth, and flicking said mess into the nearby bushes, but they stress that you must not do it into the river. They have posters displayed to give you this advice, so the N.T. believe this is a sensible way to deal with dog poo.

Next time we visit, I shall be on the lookout for flying dog foul.

Cheers Roy

 

[602]

Hi,

I flick it with the toe of my wellie boot. With practice, you get the right angle of approach, and nothing sticks.

602

 

[Ianofwilts]

602

I appreciate tyres take much longer to break down but have you ever tried rolling one back home with your dog do in it.

I tried it yesterday and most of the doings fell out the side, it was hard work and I was tired when I got home so I'm going back to the bags.

 

[Thorpedo]

Margaret

I agree that there is mounting pressure on Dog owners to do the right thing.

The recent CC club dog survey also suggests that they may be looking looking at the future of dogs on sites.

But to be honest it's us dog owners who are to blame.

If we think it's ok to lob plasic bags of poo into the bushed, or kick / flick it off the path then we only have ourselves to blame, we are playing into the hands of the anti dog brigade

In some parts of Cornwall such as St Ives and Falmouth it is as good as impossible to use a beach in the summer if you have a dog with you, and i'm afraid this will become more prevelant if people who consider themselves good pet owners act in such an iresponsible way.